Three arrested in connection with human smuggling case at far West Side shopping center

Investigators said 25 people were in cargo area of a tractor-trailer on far West Side

San Antonio police chase, catch more than 20 people in human smuggling case

SAN ANTONIO – Three people have been arrested in connection with a human smuggling operation at a far West Side shopping center last week.

Christopher Cavazos, Esmeralda Castillo-Sanchez, and Fernando Castanon were arrested by Homeland Security, according to an affidavit.

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The three are accused of transporting 25 people who were taken into Homeland Security custody after police spotted them climbing out the back of a big rig and scattering across the parking lot of a shopping center near Loop 410 and Highway 151 last Friday.

Police said they chased down the immigrants, finding some of them hiding in garbage dumpsters in the shopping center, the affidavit said. Investigators later discovered 25 people had been inside the cargo area of the tractor-trailer.

During an interview with Homeland Security, Cavazos said a female from high school introduced him to a man to transport undocumented immigrants from Laredo to San Antonio.

Cavazos told investigators he would be paid after the group made it to San Antonio.

On Feb. 10 Cavazos was given a burner phone in Laredo where he would receive instructions from an unknown person. Investigators said Cavazos was given keys to a tractor-trailer and was instructed to drive the trailer to an open lot and leave so the group could get into the tractor-trailer, the affidavit said.

Officials said Cavazos was contacted a short time later and was instructed to return to the trailer and drive to San Antonio.

Cavazos admitted to investigators that he knew there were undocumented immigrants inside but did not see them being loaded.

Once Cavazos made it to San Antonio, he was given a specific location where to park the trailer. He was instructed to wait for the trailer to be unloaded.

However, a person nearby alerted him to run because the police had arrived.

In a separate interview, Castanon told investigators that his friend was hired by a man in Mexico. On Feb. 11 Castanon, his friend and two others left Laredo at 2:00 a.m., the affidavit said.

Castanon and the others were to wait for drivers to pick up the immigrants in San Antonio. Castanon said he was supposed to be paid $300 for his participation, the affidavit said.

Homeland Security also interviewed Castillo. According to investigators, she said she was approached by a man she knew at a meat market in San Antonio who asked if she was looking for work. He then asked if she would be willing to transport seven undocumented immigrants for $150 per person.

Castillo agreed to transport them and told investigators that she knew the people were being smuggled from Laredo in a tractor-trailer.

The 25 people inside the tractor-trailer were also turned over to the Department of Homeland Security. When interviewed, some of the people told investigators they had paid a fee to be taken across the US-Mexico border and into Texas.

Cavazos, Castillo, and Castanon are all facing charges of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens.

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About the Authors:

Emily Martin is the KSAT Insider Membership Producer. She earned a journalism degree from Texas State University, where she was news director at KTSW, the campus radio station. She has also interned at KXAN and KUT in Austin.

Katrina Webber joined KSAT 12 in December 2009. She reports for Good Morning San Antonio. Katrina was born and raised in Queens, NY, but after living in Gulf Coast states for the past decade, she feels right at home in Texas. It's not unusual to find her singing karaoke or leading a song with her church choir when she's not on-air.